IX Corps was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

-sized formation of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

that existed during the First and the

Second World Wars World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

First World War

The IX Corps was originally formed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 1915 in readiness to make a new landing at Suvla during the Battle of Gallipoli. Headquarters was formed at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

The British Corps of 1914-1918 at Long, Long Trail
/ref>Becke, pp. 185–91. Command of the corps was given to

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir Frederick Stopford. His handling of the corps during the August Offensive warranted his replacement after only 9 days with Lieutenant-General

Julian Byng Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935) was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since the Canadian Confederation. Known to friends as "Bun ...

. During the Gallipoli campaign the corps comprised the following divisions: *

10th (Irish) Division The 10th (Irish) Division, was one of the first of Kitchener's New Army K1 Army Group divisions (formed from Kitchener's 'first hundred thousand' new volunteers), authorized on 21 August 1914, after the outbreak of the Great War. It included ...

11th (Northern) Division The 11th (Northern) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, raised from men who had volunteered for Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division fought in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Fron ...

13th (Western) Division The 13th (Western) Division was one of the Kitchener's Army divisions in the First World War, raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener. It fought at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia (including the capture of Baghdad) and Persia. War service 1914� ...

53rd (Welsh) Division The 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought in both the First and Second World Wars. Originally raised in 1908 as the Welsh Division, part of the Territorial Force (TF), the division saw service in ...

54th (East Anglian) Division The 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 following the creation of the Territorial Force (TF) as the East Anglian Division. During the First World War the division fo ...

2nd Mounted Division The 2nd Mounted Division was a yeomanry ( Territorial Army cavalry) division that served in the First World War. At the outbreak of war it was assigned to defence of the Norfolk coast. In March 1915 it formed a 2nd Line duplicate of itself, ...

* IX Corps Signals was provided by

London District Signals London District Signals was a headquarters signal unit of the Royal Engineers (RE) and later Royal Corps of Signals in Britain's Territorial Army from 1908. It served with a corps headquarters at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during World ...

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

Following the British evacuation of Gallipoli, the corps was moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1916, where it was commanded by Alexander Hamilton-Gordon until he was relieved in 1918. In April 1918 the corps was allotted those divisions which had seen particularly heavy casualties in the fighting during the

First Battle of the Somme (1918) Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to ...

and the Battle of the Lys, these were:- * 8th Division *

19th (Western) Division The 19th (Western) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of Kitchener's Army, formed in the Great War. Formation history The 19th (Western) Division was created under Western Command in September 1914, shortly after th ...

* 21st Division * 25th Division *

50th (Northumbrian) Division The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorks ...

These divisions were moved south to a quiet sector to reform. This sector was the unlucky target of the next German offensive, the

Third Battle of the Aisne The Third Battle of the Aisne (french: 3e Bataille de l'Aisne) was a battle of the German spring offensive during World War I that focused on capturing the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the American Expeditionary Forces arrived completely in ...

in May–June 1918, causing further losses to IX Corps. General Duchêne, commander of the French Sixth Army, had deployed IX corps (five divisions) too far forward, on the

Chemin des Dames In France, the Chemin des Dames (; literally, the "ladies' path") is part of the route départementale (local road) D18 and runs east and west in the Aisne department, between in the west, the Route Nationale 2 (Laon to Soissons), and in the eas ...

ridge which had been gained at such cost in the

Second Battle of the Aisne The Second Battle of the Aisne (french: Bataille du Chemin des Dames or french: Seconde bataille de l'Aisne, 16 April – mid-May 1917) was the main part of the Nivelle Offensive, a Franco-British attempt to inflict a decisive defeat on the Ger ...

the previous year. (The French Commander-in-Chief Petain and the Army Group Commander Franchet d’Esperey would have preferred the ridge to be lightly held and the main defence to be a battle zone between it and the River Aisne). In September 1918 the following divisions joined the Corps: *

6th Infantry Division 6th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *6th Division (Australia) * 6th Division (Austria) * 6th (United Kingdom) Division * Finnish 6th Division (Winter War) *Finnish 6th Division (Continuation War) * 6th Division (Reichswehr) *6th Divisio ...

At the time of the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

the IX Corps was part of the Fourth Army.

Second World War

Disbanded in 1919 after the First World War ended, IX Corps was reformed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

in the United Kingdom in April 1941, under the command of

Ridley P. Pakenham-Walsh. The 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division and the

Durham and North Riding County Division The Durham and North Riding County Division was a coastal defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War. It existed only from 12 March 1941 until 1 December 1941, when it was redesignated Durham and North Riding Coastal Area a ...

transferred to IX Corps from

X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to: France * 10th Army Corps (France) * X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * X ...

on 9 April 1941, which suggests this is the date the IX Corps became effective. The

Northumberland County Division The Northumberland County Division was a formation of the British Army in the Second World War, its headquarters were formed on 24 February 1941. It ceased to function on 1 December 1941, and the headquarters were disbanded on 21 December 1941. I ...

joined IX Corps the following day. The

15th (Scottish) Infantry Division The 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that served during the Second World War. It was raised on 2 September 1939, the day before war was declared, as part of the Territorial Army (TA) and served i ...

transferred to join the corps, now commanded by Lieutenant-General Edwin L. Morris, on 21 November 1941. On 30 November, both of the county divisions were disbanded, and on the following day, 1 December 1941, the corps was redesignated as IX Corps District. The 15th Division left the IX Corps District on 28 September 1942, to transfer to Northumbrian District, suggesting the corps temporarily ceased to be operational on this date. The IX Corps, now commanded by Lieutenant-General John T. Crocker, was deployed to fight in North Africa under the command of Lieutenant-General Kenneth A. N. Anderson's British First Army. The IX Corps headquarters, with

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...

Gordon H. A. MacMillan as its

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

, landed in and opened as the reserve for the Allied

18th Army Group The 18th Army Group was an Allied formation in the Second World War. It was formed on 20 February 1943 when British Eighth Army advancing from the east and British First Army advancing into Tunisia from the west came close enough to require coor ...

on 24 March 1943. The 6th Armoured Division transferred to the corps from Lieutenant-General Charles W. Allfrey's

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army ...

on 12 March 1943. The corps also took command of the U.S. 34th Infantry Division and the 128th Infantry Brigade Group, part of the 46th Infantry Division, and commenced an attack on Pinchon-Fondouk on the southern flank of the First Army. For the final offensive in North Africa several veteran formations from

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Bernard Montgomery's

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Force ...

arrived to reinforce the IX Corps, which was to play a leading role in the forthcoming offensive to end the war in North Africa. The British 7th Armoured Division, from the British Eighth Army, joined IX Corps on 30 April. The

4th Indian Infantry Division The 4th Indian Infantry Division, also known as the Red Eagle Division, is an infantry division of the Indian Army. This division of the British Indian Army was formed in Egypt in 1939 during the Second World War. During the Second World W ...

, also from the Eighth Army, joined on 30 April, followed by the 201st Guards Brigade, with the

British 4th Infantry Division The 4th Infantry Division was a regular infantry division of the British Army with a very long history, seeing active service in the Peninsular War, the Crimean War, the First World War, and during the Second World War. It was disbanded after ...

joining on 3 May. This gave IX Corps, now commanded by Lieutenant-General Brian G. Horrocks (replacing Crocker who had been injured by a PIAT in a training incident), two armoured divisions and two infantry divisions. The final assault commenced on 5 May with the two infantry divisions forcing the Medjez-el-Bab gap, through which the two armoured divisions passed through to bring about the eventual surrender of the

Axis forces The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

on 13 May 1943. With the surrender of almost 250,000 Axis soldiers in North Africa, the IX Corps was run down. The 7th Armoured Division transferred to V Corps on 18 May 1943, the British 4th Infantry Division following it four days later, and the 6th Armoured Division (with the attached 201st Guards Brigade) on 26 May. IX Corps, with no commander after Horrocks returned to

and as Crocker was still injured, was disbanded on 31 May 1943.

General Officers Commanding

First World War commanders included: *

Sir Frederick Stopford (17 June 1915–16 August 1915) *

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Beauvoir De Lisle General Sir Henry de Beauvoir De Lisle (27 July 1864 – 16 July 1955), known as Beauvoir De Lisle, was a British Army officer and sportsman. He served in both the Second Boer War and the First World War. Military career Born in Guernsey and edu ...

(temporary) (16–24 August 1915) * Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng (24 August 1915 – 8 February 1916) * Lieutenant-General Sir Francis Davies (8 February – 20 June 1916) * Lieutenant-General Alexander Hamilton-Gordon (20 June 1916 – 16 July 1918) * Major-General Sir Robert Whigham (temporary) (16 July – 22 July 1918) * Major-General

Harold Higginson Major-General Harold Whitla Higginson (10 November 1873 – 30 October 1954) was a British Army officer. Military career Born the son of Colonel Theophilus Higginson and educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate and the Royal Military College ...

(temporary) (22 July – 30 July 1918) * Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon (30 July – 10 September 1918) * Major-General Peter Strickland (temporary) (10 September – 13 September 1918) * Lieutenant-General

Walter Braithwaite General Sir Walter Pipon Braithwaite, (11 November 1865 – 7 September 1945) was a British Army officer who held senior commands during the First World War. After being dismissed from his position as Chief of Staff for the Mediterranean Expedi ...

Walter Braithwaite at First World War Biography
/ref> (from 13 September 1918) Second World War commanders included: * Lieutenant-General Ridley Pakenham-Walsh (7 June 1941 – 17 November 1941) * Lieutenant-General Edwin Morris (18 November 1941 – 31 January 1942) * Lieutenant-General

Francis Nosworthy Lieutenant General Sir Francis Poitiers Nosworthy, (21 September 1887 – 9 July 1971) was a British Army officer who served as Commander-in-Chief of West Africa Command during the Second World War. Military career Educated at Exeter School an ...

(1 February 1942–11 September 1942) * Lieutenant-General

John Crocker General Sir John Tredinnick Crocker, (4 January 1896 – 9 March 1963) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both world wars. He served as both a private soldier and a junior officer in the First World War, and as a distinguished br ...

(12 September 1942 – 29 April 1943) * Lieutenant-General

Brian Horrocks Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, (7 September 1895 – 4 January 1985) was a British Army officer, chiefly remembered as the commander of XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden and other operations during the Second World W ...

(29 April 1943–3 June 1943)

Notes

References

* Maj A.F. Becke, ''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 4: The Army Council, GHQs, Armies, and Corps 1914–1918'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1944/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * * Cliff Lord & Graham Watson, ''Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents'', Solihull: Helion, 2003, . * Harris, J.P. ''Douglas Haig and the First World War''. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008. * JPS Cigarette card series, ''Army, Corps and Divisional Signs 1914–1918'', John Player and sons, 1920s. *

Online sources

Army Commands at Colin Mackie's website

British Military History

Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives

The Long, Long Trail

Royal Munster Fusiliers website
{{DEFAULTSORT:09 Corps British field corps Corps of the British Army in World War I Corps of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II